Southlake girls edge Flower Mound 2-1

Published 3/30/2011 9:40:41 AM by staff from dallas

When nothing was working and Southlake Carroll's normally stout offense was finding it difficult to move the ball against a very stubborn Flower Mound defense, Lady Dragons forward Sophie Groff took it upon herself to make a play to keep their season alive.

Controlling the ball for nearly 50 yards, Groff dribbled from the right side of the field to the center, and then back to the right once she moved inside the penalty box, where she kicked it across her body and into the back of the net to give the Lady Dragons a 2-1 win in a Class 5A Region I bi-district game.

An exhausted Groff lay flat on her back as her teammates on the field rushed to her side with 4:34 left on the clock. Those on the sidelines, including coach Matt Colvin, exploded in delight at Groff's 21st goal of the season.

Southlake Carroll (21-4-2) moves on to play Colleyville Heritage in an area-round game between two bitter rivals.

"They were tight on her all night," Colvin said. "[Flower Mound defenseman Shelby Booth] did a fantastic job on her all night long. With a player like Sophie it is only a matter of time before she springs free."

Defense ruled for the opening 20 minutes of the game as both teams felt the other out. The majority of play was in the midfield. That limited the work for both keepers over that span except for a clutch save by Flower Mound's Taylor Jones on a rocket from Cristina Petrovich.

To that point Flower Mound (15-6-4), which finished third in District 8-5A, had only a couple of realistic scoring opportunities. Its next one, though, at the 17:03 mark, gave the Jaguars a 1-0 lead. It came from the right foot of captain Andrea Baird, who shot across her body from 30 yards out and squeezed the ball by Lady Dragons goalie Sonja Loy.

A bit of unselfishness by Sophie Groff quickly tied the score. Groff had put herself in a one-on-one situation with Jones yards in front of the goal, but instead of trying for a shot she passed to a wide-open Lissi Lonsberry, who found the right corner to tie the score at 1-1.

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